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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29955336">[𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕤𝕖]</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolcat423/pseuds/coolcat423'>coolcat423</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dream SMP - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Dream SMP Ensemble Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slow Build, Teen Romance, dream smp au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:16:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,071</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29955336</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolcat423/pseuds/coolcat423</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖?"</p><p>-----</p><p>     When a little bit of improv goes in an unexpected direction, a new canon couple is formed on the Dream SMP.  Now, everyone's asking if they're together off-screen as well. As an ongoing joke to get more views, these two streamers decide to pretend that they really are dating, but what happens when they start catching feelings?</p><p>[cw: suicide, panic attacks, &amp; references to abuse &amp; self injury]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>190</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. [impossible]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>DISCLAIMERS:</p><p>1) I am a minor writing the story<br/>2) (Y/N) is a minor<br/>3) All Dream SMP members that are minors as of March 2021 will be minors in the story<br/>4) There will be no smut, the furthest this fic will go is kissing</p><p>(Y/T/N) = your twitch name OR youtube name</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dream, GeorgeNotFound, and Sapnap are on the hunt for the newest member of the Dream SMP while (Y/T/N) is having a funeral for her Minecraft fox. (Y/T/N)’s entire streaming career could be forever changed by this one stream.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>     "Alright guys, today we're going on a hunt to find a new member for the Reborn Dream SMP. Sapnap, George and I are gonna go through the Minecraft streamers streaming right now and find someone. We have fake usernames, no one will know it's us. Here we go," Dream clicked on the Minecraft tab on Twitch. George and Sapnap were streaming as well, scouring the ongoing streams for someone that they found entertaining.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>     "Well, chat, the grave is done," I sighed and took a step away from the stone brick grave. Two red poppies sat in flower pots on either side, a lantern on top. My pet fox, Shrooms, was blown up by a creeper that snuck out from behind me. I was devastated. Only three people were tuned in on stream for the funeral, but that was more than enough for me.</p><p> </p><p>     "I miss him already, but I feel more at peace now that the grave is done, I think," I stared blankly at the grave, listening to the oak leaves rustle in the wind. "He's in a better place. This world is hard, I'm sure he's resting easy up there. He was a good fox and I'll always wish he was here with me, but he isn’t. He’s gone, I have to accept that. At least now that he's buried, I think I can start to let go. I can move on."</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "I can move on," the girl streaming sniffed, holding back tears. Sapnap unmuted his microphone.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "Dream, George, I found someone," he alerted.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "Really? What's their name?" George asked, clicking out of the stream he was watching.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "(Y/T/N). She's having a funeral for her fox right now, she can act pretty well. Should I strike up a conversation?" Sapnap started typing.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "Yeah, I'm on my way to the stream," Dream said.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[CHAT]</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>sapnap_not_taken: dude i can't tell if you're acting or not, this is good</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>     "I'm not gonna lie, I'm acting a little bit. I'm in a lot of the theatre productions in my school, so I'm not terrible," I chuckled. "I'm sad about Shrooms, though, don't get it twisted!"</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "Dude, this chick has actual acting experience!" Sapnap exclaimed.</em>
</p><p> </p><p><em>     "No shit, really? That's great, how old is she?" Dream inquired.</em> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[CHAT]</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>sapnap_not_taken: i hope this isn't creepy, how old are you?</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>fetuschomper69: i think she said that she's seventeen, but idk</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>mossman: yeah, she's seventeen</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>     "How old am I? Sevent- oh, chat already answered," I smiled. I had 30-something followers and a few regulars on the channel. It was a tight-knit community. Mossman was my friend in real life, we met in a play in school. I planned on eventually modding them if I ever got big. I didn't really care if I got famous, I liked my little community. We had fun, that's what mattered.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "She's seventeen, so pretty young but we have younger members," Sapnap reported.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "Ask her about the SMP finale," George suggested.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[CHAT]</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>sapnap_not_taken: so how about that Dream SMP finale?</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>lilypad489: omg it was so sad</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>fetuschomper69: i'm mad that tommy's getting all of his lives back when the new server's created</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>     "The finale was amazing! It sucks that Tubbo died, but it's nice to have Wilbur back," I answered. Of course I remembered the finale, I was watching Karl's stream at the time. How could I forget?</p><p> </p><p>     Leading up to the finale was the resurrection of Schlatt by Niki, Jack, and Quackity. They wanted the server as we know it to be demolished. Jack took Tubbo's nukes and with them, the server was destroyed, everything annihilated to bedrock. With the server in shambles, everyone meandered around aimlessly for a few weeks. Meanwhile, Ghostbur and Philza had planned something, a way to create a new server. "Reborn Dream SMP" they were calling it, but it was likely that eventually, it would just be known as the Dream SMP again. The only issue with creating a new server is that canon deaths would have to be permanently sacrificed. And the Ender Dragon had to be defeated.</p><p> </p><p>     The fight against the Ender Dragon wasn't difficult, not with the masses of people there to fight it. Only Ranboo died, which left him with two canon lives. Once the dragon was killed, all that was left was to sacrifice ten canon deaths on the altar that Ghostbur had created. However, if a person was to sacrifice a canon death, they would not get that death back once the server was regenerated.  Awesamdude, CaptainPuffy, Eret, Ponk, Purpled, and Sapnap each gave up one canon death. Ranboo, Fundy, and Karl gave up their second canon death, thinking that they would come back into the new world with two deaths. They were wrong, they now must enter the new SMP with one canon death.</p><p> </p><p>     Technoblade was supposed to sacrifice a canon death, but it was discovered that he doesn't have any canon deaths. Technoblade is incapable of death. Thus, Tubbo, who felt guilty for inventing the nukes that destroyed the server, sacrificed his final canon death for the new server. Ghostbo was born. While the new server wasn't up yet, it was known and canon that aside from those that gave up canon deaths for the new server, everyone would respawn with three canon deaths, even if they were dead in the original SMP.</p><p> </p><p>     "I was on Karl's stream, I couldn't believe that sacrificing one canon death would lock the canon deaths you had in place. I think that it was kinda unfair, especially to Ranboo. He would have had all canon deaths if it weren't for all of this."</p><p> </p><p> <em>    "She knows about the SMP!" Sapnap shouted.</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "We know, we're in the stream," George groaned.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "So are we going with this girl?" Dream asked. "It might be a good idea, a lot of people want more girls on the SMP."</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "I'm down," Sapnap said.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "I'm tired of going through bland stream after bland stream, can we just add her and get this over with?" George yawned.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>[CHAT]</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>sapnap_not_found: would you ever want to be on the SMP?</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>     "I mean, of course, who wouldn't? It's not like I'd ever make it on there, I don't have a single sub. But I can dream, right?" I responded.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>    "She said yes!" George cheered.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>     "Alright guys, I'll send her the dono."</em>
</p><p> </p><p>     "Dream, thank you for the $5! Wow! My first donation," I beamed. "Let's see, 'welcome to the Dream SMP'? You're funny, but I know you're fake. I'm not falling for that."</p><p> </p><p>     For a split second, I thought that it could have been real, but I knew it wasn't. Again, I didn't have a single sub and I wasn't even an affiliate on Twitch yet. This was all just a stupid prank, but I couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, it was real.</p><p> </p><p>     "Hang on guys, I just got a Discord notification," I tabbed out of Minecraft and went into Discord. I heard my follower alert go off several times, almost constantly. My overlay showed hundreds of new followers. What the hell was going on?</p><p> </p><p>     "Wait, no, stop, this is fake," my eyes went wide when I saw the message I had gotten. My hand flew up and clasped over my mouth. It was an invite to a server from Dream#3827. Chat was exploding, something I had never seen in my life. This had to be a dream or a scam or a prank or something.</p><p> </p><p>     I clicked the join button. I scrolled through the different names listed as members of the server. Every single one had their linked channels and social media.</p><p> </p><p>     "This is a really elaborate prank," I muttered. With chat exploding, though, I wasn't sure if this really was a prank. I got a call on Discord and answered it.</p><p> </p><p>     "Hello?"</p><p> </p><p>     "Welcome to the Dream SMP," I heard a familiar voice say.</p><p> </p><p>     "You have to be a s-soundboard or something, this isn't real," I stammered.</p><p> </p><p>     "(Y/T/N), I'm not a soundboard. This is real. George, Sapnap and I have been going through small Minecraft streamers to find a new member. Sapnap found you, said you had acting experience, and we all decided to invite you. Welcome to the Dream SMP," Dream said.</p><p> </p><p>     "So this is real," I breathed.</p><p> </p><p>     "Yeah."</p><p> </p><p>     I tabbed into Streamlabs, heading over to chat. I could see that I was at thousands of viewers. My heart raced.</p><p> </p><p>     "Why me? I don't have a lot of followers, I wouldn't bring extra views to the SMP, I don't understand."</p><p> </p><p>     "You have talent," Dream explained, "that's what I look for. Followers and subs are irrelevant if you're boring. We want people that are interesting, that can act and do well on the SMP. I don't know you that well, but I think that you can handle the job. And y'know, we need more girls."</p><p> </p><p>     "When is the new server up?" I inquired.</p><p> </p><p>     "I'll let you know, it'll probably be within the next few days. Most people want to do a Friday or weekend launch so more people are free to watch the streams. I think you'll get along well with the other members," with that, Dream, George, and Sapnap left the call.</p><p> </p><p>     "Holy shit," I tabbed back into Minecraft, watching the chat overlay go wild. My head spun, my mind raced. My bedroom was always cold, always had been, yet I was sweating profusely. I muted my microphone and called Ari.</p><p> </p><p>     "(Y/N), this is crazy!" they exclaimed.</p><p> </p><p>     "You know how I said that I'd mod you if I ever got a lot of followers?" I asked, heading back over to Streamlabs.</p><p> </p><p>     "Yeah."</p><p> </p><p>     "You were my first follower, now you're gonna be my first moderator."</p><p> </p><p>     "I'm honored," Ari joked.</p><p> </p><p>     "Alright, here we go. Slash mod, space, mossman," I thought out loud. I had my first moderator now, my best friend. I muted my phone for a second and unmuted my regular mic.</p><p> </p><p>     "Okay, chat, this has been a lot for one day, I think I'm gonna wrap it up here. Lemme set up a raid with one of the members of the SMP, I wanna get on their good side," I scrolled through the Twitch streams that appeared on the front page. I recognized one channel in particular.</p><p> </p><p>     "Ranboo? How about we raid him?" I questioned. The chat spammed its agreement.</p><p> </p><p>     "Alright, sending you guys over. Have a good day, guys," I clicked the final button to send the new viewers over to Ranboo's stream. I popped in myself, watching the raid emojis flood into the chat.</p><p> </p><p>     "Raid? Who raided me?" the voice on stream paused the game he was playing, assumedly scrolling through chat. "(Y/T/N)? Am I saying that right? Thank you for the raid! How was your stream?"</p><p> </p><p>     "Incredible," I typed, but my message had likely been drowned by the thousands of messages sent each second.</p><p> </p><p>     "'Incredible'? Awesome, I'm glad," I couldn't believe that he had actually seen what I had said under the mountains of text that had formed. He stopped what he was doing in his game for a second. "Wait, people are saying you're the person that Dream scouted for the new server? Welcome! Good to have you!"</p><p> </p><p>     "Good to be here," I replied.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all so much for reading! Just for clarity, the only things that you need to remember for lore purposes are as follows:</p><p>Tubbo is dead (Ghostbo)<br/>Most people have three lives, some have two, Ranboo, Fundy, and Karl have one. <br/>The server is being regenerated and is going to be brand new. </p><p>The exact death counts that were mentioned previously in the chapter may be different than when you’re reading this. Some characters may have less lives than they did before the restart. I’m fully aware of this, just keep in mind the lives that everyone has now. The Dream SMP lore is constantly changing, the lives listed above is what is canon in this story.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. [cake]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>(Y/T/N) has just arrived onto the new Dream SMP, but is quickly drawn in to some drama between old friends.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     "Hello friends, welcome to the stream!" I leaned closer to my microphone while speaking. It was surreal seeing such a high number by my viewer count. My chat filled to the brim in seconds, a brand new experience for me. I didn't know how I felt about it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Today we're gonna be playing on the new Dream SMP," I announced, opening Minecraft. I had a few mods in chat now, something I never expected to happen. I still didn't believe that what was happening to me was real, but I kept going. One day it would click, hopefully. I already had the IP address in my multiplayer menu so that I wouldn't leak it. I couldn't screw up my chances yet, I had only just arrived. I spawned into the world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Enormous spruce trees towered over me, their shadows casting over the landscape. Thick berry bushes surrounded me and I felt their sharp twigs dig into my jeans. I clumsily climbed over them and felt the foliage crunch under my boots. Clutching onto the trunks of the trees around me was the only thing keeping me stable. I couldn't see a way out of the woods. I was trapped.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "(Y/T/N)? Is that you?" a deep voice to my right asked. I spun around, scratching my face on the bark as I turned. I winced, clutching the right side of my face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Who's there?" I called out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "It's Ranboo. You raided me the other day, remember?" a black and white figure approached me, navigating the bramble much better than I had. It was like he was used to it, like it was natural to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Yeah, of course! It's nice to meet you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You having a bit of trouble over there with the woods?" he raised an eyebrow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "A little," I simpered. I carefully removed my palm from my face, the cold forest air hitting the open wound. I winced at the stinging and saw the small amount of blood that had been transferred onto my hand. Guess my scrape was a bit worse than I had anticipated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Follow me," the corners of Ranboo's mouth curled up into a smile, his eyes gleaming in the sparse light leaking through the spruce leaves. The eye on his black half was a bright green, like an emerald. The other one was a deep crimson that seemed almost sinister. I nodded, stumbling over the disheveled forest floor. Ranboo's legs were much longer than mine, making his trek through the foliage far easier than mine was. My nerves calmed after a while and I felt less tense, but they returned when I felt the tip of my boot hit a tree root. Next thing I knew, my face was covered in leaves and my arms were throbbing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You're pretty accident-prone, huh?" I heard Ranboo chuckle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm fine!" I shouted, pulling myself to my feet quickly. Too quickly. I fell back into the bush behind me. Ranboo cackled and made his way over to me, holding a hand out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Let's get back home before you injure yourself again," he pulled me to my feet, causing a searing pain to travel through my arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Shit," I hissed through my teeth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You good?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "My face is bleeding and my arms hurt like hell. Is that good?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Well, no, but I thought I'd ask."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Where's your home?" I questioned. I needed a distraction from the excruciating pain I was feeling. I guess I must have injured myself more severely than I had originally thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Well, Tommy's trying to make some kind of settlement. Ghostbo hasn't decided if he wants to go with Tommy, but it isn't like the kid can decide much. He barely remembers anything after his final death and, well, that's saying something coming from me. Whatever Ghostbo wants to do, I'll probably follow," Ranboo explained.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Were you two close before he died?" I asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Very. We were married and had a son, Michael," Ranboo responded, his eyes glazed over in thought. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Does he remember that?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "No."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Ranboo, I'm so sorry," I consoled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "It's okay, him and I can still be friends. Well, Ghostbo and I can be friends. I can't help but miss Tubbo, though," Ranboo pursed his lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I get that, but you didn't answer my question. Where's your house?" I asked again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Here's the funny thing, I don't really have a house yet. None of us really do. I'm just waiting for Ghostbo's opinion on if he wants to live with Tommy or not," he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm not sure if 'funny' is the right word," I raised an eyebrow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "It'll be fine, it just means that you're not alone in your homelessness."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Ranboo! You've brought a woman!" a blond boy in the distance shouted. I noticed that his red and white baseball shirt had a significant tear in it, but I couldn't tell if there was a wound beneath the tear. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Tommy, what the hell happened to you?" Ranboo had concern in his voice and he quickened his pace. He and I were finally out of the dense forest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I got into a nasty fight with a drowned, the bitch had a trident. Who's the woman?" Tommy pointed at me, almost accusingly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "This is (Y/T/N)," Ranboo answered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Hi," I sheepishly waved. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Damn it, she's American!" Tommy bellowed. I had the impression that the boy tended to yell frequently. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Hey, I don't like it either," I retorted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Whatever, Ghostbo's made up his mind. After I reminded him of everything that he and I did when he was alive, he decided to stay with me," Tommy announced. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Wait, you reminded him of his past, did you mention me?" Ranboo pulled at his white shirt collar. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "No, I forgot about that. I'm not sure he wants to remember his ex-husband that he divorced several times, y'know?" Tommy smirked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "We were in love! We had a son!" Ranboo snapped. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Your divorce count says otherwise," Tommy rolled his eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Fine, then... then..." Ranboo hesitated, "then you can have Ghostbo! I don't care! I'll find a different settlement and it'll be far, far away from you two!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I don't know, man, it seems like you care a good bit."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I care about Tubbo. Tubbo isn't Ghostbo. If they were the same, then he'd come with me without hesitation. I should have known that they weren't the same," Ranboo turned away from Tommy, a defeated look on his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Hey, let's not do anything rash," I whispered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm not being rash, I've thought about this a lot, okay?" Ranboo grabbed my arm, then turned back to Tommy. "I'm leaving and I'm taking (Y/T/N) with me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Great! We got rid of two Americans in one day!" Tommy cheered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Tommy? What's going on out here?" a small voice asked. A ghost flew over to Tommy, a mop of translucent brown hair on his head. Ghostbo. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "The Americans were just leaving," Tommy responded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Ranboo? Oh, you got a new friend!" Ghostbo floated over to me. He was the exact same height as me and had kind brown eyes. "What's your name?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm (Y/T/N), Ranboo's told me a lot about you," I briefly glanced over to Ranboo, then back to Ghostbo. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "(Y/T/N), that's lovely. I didn't know that Ranboo knew a lot about me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Apparently you two were married," I winced after I spoke, realizing that this would likely do more harm than good. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Married?" Ghostbo gasped. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "And divorced. Several times," Tommy interjected. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "We were married when you died, though," Ranboo looked down at Ghostbo with pleading eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Divorcing several times? That sounds a little toxic to me," Ghostbo rubbed the back of his neck. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "That's what I said!" Tommy tried to pat Ghostbo on the back, but his hand went right through the ghost. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Maybe it was toxic," Ranboo turned away and started trudging away. "(Y/T/N), you can come with me if you'd like. I'm gonna find a place to live."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Yeah, sure, let's go," I scurried after the tall boy after taking one last look at Tommy and Ghostbo. Tommy glared at Ranboo and I as we left but I couldn't read Ghostbo's expression. Maybe he didn't feel anything at seeing his ex-husband leave. Maybe he felt too much. Regardless, Ranboo and I were off, wandering aimlessly into the unknown. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     We eventually stumbled upon a flower field on the edge of a dark oak forest. After walking for so long, it seemed like this location was the best place we were going to find. Ranboo wasn't entirely sold, but I convinced him that this was the best location that we were going to get. For days, we gathered clay, stone, and wood. We built up two houses near each other and I made a large wheat farm. We had a few farm animals, mainly cows and chickens, that roamed our village as they pleased. It was peaceful. Things were good, other than our relationship with Tommy's new nation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Ranboo, I think we might need to make amends with Tommy and all of them," I opened the dark oak door to Ranboo's cottage. I saw him through the window writing in his journal. I'm not sure what the journal was for, but he seemed to write in it constantly. He snapped shut the leather book when I walked in. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Why should we?" he scoffed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Alliances are good, we need them. Besides, Tommy's unpredictable, what if he starts a war against us? We're not prepared for that," I sat down in the wooden chair across from him. His kitchen wasn't as furnished yet as mine, but it got the job done. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Tommy wouldn't start a war against us," Ranboo shook his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Then at least we can make them an ally. We have all of the materials," I leaned over the table, "let's make them cake."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "If you wanna do that, go ahead. I..." he glanced at a chest in the corner of the room, "I have some things to prepare."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Ominous, but alright," I stood up from the table. I learned not to question a lot of the things that Ranboo did. He was an odd sort, but intriguing nonetheless. He was a good friend to have. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Gathering the materials was easy enough. We had cows and chickens and wheat, but sugar was a little more difficult. I had to go on a brief expedition to find sugar cane. Once I had some, I planted it by the pond in front of Ranboo and I's village. It would grow tall and provide us with sugar and paper when we needed it again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     I remembered the recipe for a basic cake. Three bundles of wheat go on the bottom, an egg goes in the middle with two cups of sugar on either side, and three buckets of milk go on top. My lactose intolerance would never let me eat such a cake and I had to hope that the town to our south could eat it. They were calling themselves New Manbury, a tribute to their old town of L'Manbug. They put Tommy in charge and the citizens included Ghostbo, Wilbur, Fundy, Jack, and Phil. They were much bigger than our village and a worthy ally to make. With three cakes in tow, I mounted one of the horses that Ranboo and I had tamed and rode south to New Manbury. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>     "The woman's back!" Tommy barked. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>     "Niki?" Fundy called up. Tommy sat on his watchtower most days, waiting and watching for any potential threats to approach. Today was no exception. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>     "No, it's (Y/T/N), the American," he responded. "She's carrying something. Fundy, go see what it is."</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     A bipedal fox walked towards me, shield and axe in hand. I heard his iron armor clanking with each step. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "What's in the bag, (Y/T/N)?" he pointed the axe at me. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "How do you know my name?" I dismounted the horse, the leather bag with the cakes still in hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Answer my question first."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Cake, three of them to be exact. Ranboo and I want an alliance," I put the bag down in front of the fox and pushed it forward with my foot. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Open it," he demanded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Sure," I kneeled down and opened the flap, revealing the three pastries with white icing. The fox peered into the bag, his eyes widened. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You weren't lying," he breathed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Take these to your leader and tell him about my proposal. I'll be off, but first, I'd like you to answer my question," I prodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "My name's Fundy. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'll bring these back to New Manbury and we'll send Jack with a message tomorrow. Safe travels."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Thank you, I'll look forward to it," I nodded. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all so much for reading! I realize that the angst tag may not make sense right now so I just want to clarify really quickly: the angst is coming! It'll start leaking in a tad next chapter, chapter four goes full out. I hope you all enjoyed and are as excited as I am for the future of this book &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. [reality]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>(Y/T/N) is the hottest topic in the MCYT community but behind the screen, she's (Y/N). A nobody.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>    "Hey babe," I picked up the buzzing phone on my desk after I ended the stream. "Did you see the stream?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You were streaming? Is that why you didn't pick up earlier?" Brian asked on the other end. He and I had been dating for a little under a year now. We met when our mutual friend decided that he wanted to start a band. I was a backup singer and usually played the drums while Brian was the lead singer. He also had a Twitch channel, Bronzian, with about 10,000 followers. Until recently, his channel was much, much bigger than mine. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Yeah, it was really good! I've never been on a roleplay server before and the premiere was really great," I chirped. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I don't know how I feel about you being on such a popular server. I'm happy that you're having fun and all, but I'm not gonna lie, the whole thing seems kinda weird."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Weird? How so?" I got up from my chair and slowly paced around my room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "The whole roleplay thing, for lack of a better word, it's cringey," he stated. "There are better things to do with your time than that stuff."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "It's fun, I like it. I'm making money off of it, too," I bit my lip. Here we go again, one of Brian's lectures on how certain things are “stupid” and a “waste of time”. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "And if it makes you happy, then do it. I just think it's dumb and a waste of your time."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Called it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "What do you propose I do then? Not pursue this whole streamer thing? I mean, I've been supporting you since day one, why can't you support me?" I held back tears, my voice cracking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Because I don't play some dumb children's game and roleplay with a bunch of adult men," Brian snapped. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Not all of them are adults," I grumbled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "That makes it worse, (Y/N). What if you develop feelings for someone on the server?" he asked, worry creeping into his voice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I won't, really," I reassured him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You better not."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You never answered my question. If you don't think I should be streaming, what do you want me to do?" I sighed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You're smart, you're on track to get into the best college in the state. Just stick with that or something, I just don't think that this is the right path for you," Brian said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Since when did you decide what was right for me?" I spat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm not deciding anything, I'm saying that this isn't a stable thing. Chances are, this server will die out and your channel will be over in a few months. I'm looking out for you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Talking about stability? That's funny coming from you, considering that you're just planning to become a streamer and pursue music without a back-up plan if it blows up in your face. I have a plan, I'll be fine if my channel doesn't work, you won't. Why are you being like this? Why can't you support me? For once, just support me!" I shouted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Don't let your emotions overrule your judgement," Brian spoke quietly, calmly. I'm not sure if it was his nonchalant attitude or his invalidation of my emotions that set me off. Anger boiled in my chest but was immediately consumed by shame. Maybe Brian was right. Maybe I was letting my emotions get the best of me, like my mother always told me. I wrapped an arm around my torso, tears brimming in my eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm sorry," a droplet fell from my eye, burning a path down my cheek as it traveled down. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "It's okay, I forgive you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "The stream went well, though."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Can we change the subject? I don't want to talk about your streaming thing right now," Brian huffed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I actually have to go now, my dad wants to go out for dinner or something," I said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "That's fine, I love you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Love you, too," I pressed the bright red button on my phone. That's when Spencer knocked on my door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Come in!" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I was watching the stream, it was pretty good," Spencer entered the room with a grin. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You being sarcastic?" I shoved my phone in my pocket. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Spencer was my twin brother. He was slightly younger than me but I didn't remember the exact times. We were C-Section babies and I was taken out first, but that's all I knew. Our parents had wanted kids for a long time and after a few rounds of IVF, they got us. Spencer and I were close for most of our lives, always playing video games together on the TV. In middle school, however, we had a bit of a falling out. Our parents announced that they were getting a divorce, which brought us closer initially. Then our mom left. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Spencer blamed me. I blamed me. I was the one that was home while Mom was. I was the one that bore the burden of her emotions. When my listening became inadequate for her, she left. Mom calls Spencer and I frequently now, but we lost communication with her for a while. It took until our freshman year of high school for Spencer to realize that it wasn't my fault that our mom left. Since then, we've been back to being best friends. I wouldn't have it any other way. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "No, I'm not being sarcastic. You got the text saying that Dad wanted to go out for dinner?" Spencer leaned against the doorway. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Yeah, I did. What's up with that?" I asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "We're meeting Ashley," he responded. Ashley was our dad's girlfriend. They had been together for a few years, but my dad wanted to make sure that she was "the one" before Spencer and I met her. I guess that he finally figured it out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Why wasn't I told sooner?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You were streaming. Get ready, we gotta go in fifteen minutes," Spencer slipped out of my room. Panicked, I got ready as fast as I could. I slipped on my favorite green dress, some sandals, and threw on a necklace. I had a little bit of time for some concealer, eyeliner, and mascara, but that was it. I bolted out the bedroom door, two minutes to spare. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Ready to go, kiddo?" my dad stood by the front door, his favorite blue collared shirt on. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Yeah, let's go," I nodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Shotgun!" Spencer threw open the front door and sprinted out to the car. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Spence told me that your streaming thing is doing well, is that true?" Dad asked as we walked down to the curb. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Yeah, I had over 10,000 viewers today," I beamed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Really? Spence, is that true?" Dad opened the driver's side door and sat down. I got in the back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Yeah, it was wild. She got scouted by some really big streamers the other day, remember?" Spencer grinned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Ah, that's right, you did tell me that. I'm proud of you, kiddo," Dad turned around to smile at me before starting the car. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~ ~ ~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You've heard enough about me, what about you guys?" Ashley asked, leaning across the table. She was tall and blonde and slightly younger than my dad. She was a lawyer like him as well; that's how they met. Overall, she seemed nice. Her son, Freddie, on the other hand was obnoxious, loud, and demanding. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Well, I work at the burger place near our house on weekends and skate sometimes. That's kinda it," Spencer shrugged. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>    "You skate? Like roller skates or skateboarding?" she inquired. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Skateboard, yeah. There's a skate park in the neighborhood, I usually hang out there," he responded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Oh, cool! I have awful balance, I could never do something like that. It's nice to have hobbies," Ashley smiled, then turned to me. "How about you, (Y/N)?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Oh, I'm in a band. I play the drums and do back-up vocals. I play video games sometimes, too," I answered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "She does this Twitch streaming stuff, she recently got pretty big on there," my dad beamed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You stream? I bet it's something dumb like The Sims," Freddie smirked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I mostly do Minecraft, but I play other games," I looked down at the table. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Wait, you sound familiar," Freddie squinted. "Are you (Y/T/N)? The girl that just joined the Dream SMP?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Um, yes," I mumbled, "please don't tell anyone. I'm kinda trying to keep this streamer thing on the down-low."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Freddie stared at me for a few seconds in silence, studying me. My palms started to sweat. I didn't show my face on camera and I wasn't planning on a face reveal any time soon. If Freddie decided to reveal my identity, I'd be over. I didn't want my school finding out about my streaming, I didn't want anyone I knew to find out other than my close family and Brian. It was like my life flashed before my eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Only if you give me a shout-out on your next stream," Freddie pointed at me. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Deal. Should I just say 'hi Freddie' or something?" I finally felt more relaxed now that I knew my identity wouldn't be leaked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "That'll work," he nodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Great."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Well this dinner was nice, wasn't it?" my dad looked at Spencer and I from the edge of the table. Spencer, Dad and I sat on one side while Freddie and Ashley sat across from us. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Yeah, I'm glad we finally got to meet Ashley," Spencer replied. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>      "I'm glad you guys all get along," Dad reached into his pocket for his wallet. When his hand returned to the table, however, I was stunned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Ashley, I once told my kids that I would only introduce them to a woman I was dating if I knew that she was the one. I wasn't expecting to do this tonight, but after seeing how you all have interacted, I really think that this is the right time. Ashley, will you marry me?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "This is sudden, I wasn't expecting this tonight, Harry," Ashley stared at the ring in my dad's hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I understand, I just thought-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "My answer is yes."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     My head spun. This was all coming on far too suddenly.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for reading. Angst begins next chapter ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. [pillar]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A new face joins Ranboo and (Y/T/N)’s village and Ranboo is acting off.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>!!![content warning: suicide &amp; self injury]!!!</p><p>hotline number will be provided at the end of the chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     The last thing I expected when coming back from the mines was a bipedal pig in full diamond armor at the gate of my village, yet there he was. </p><p> </p><p>     "Can I help you?" I asked. The pig jumped backwards, his hand flew to the hilt of his sword. </p><p> </p><p>     "If you sneak up on me like that, I'm gonna kill you," he shouted. </p><p> </p><p>     "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm (Y/T/N), what brings you here?"</p><p> </p><p>     "I'm looking for Ranboo, I heard he lives here. New Manbury also wanted me to deliver a message since I was heading this way," the pig replied.</p><p> </p><p>     "Technoblade!" Ranboo ran out from his cottage, waving at the pig standing in front of me. </p><p> </p><p>     "There he is, my favorite main character!" Technoblade bellowed. </p><p> </p><p>     "How'd you find us?" Ranboo gave Techno a quick hug before pulling away. </p><p> </p><p>     "I'm a human GPS," Techno smirked. </p><p> </p><p>     "You said you had a message from New Manbury?" I interjected. I felt bad for interrupting their heartfelt moment, but this message could be important. It could mean an alliance. </p><p> </p><p>     "Right, Tommy's little European town. They said that the cakes tasted good, whatever that means," he shrugged. </p><p> </p><p>     "Anything else?" Ranboo inquired. </p><p> </p><p>     "That they aren't going to war with you guys, but they don't want to have an alliance with Americans. It was apparently a controversial decision, New Manbury's having some internal conflict now. It's like they're trying to speed-run a civil war," Techno chuckled. </p><p> </p><p>     "What if we end up involved? Tommy's probably the one that made the call for no alliance. If a war breaks out, he might try to turn the blame on us," I mentioned. </p><p> </p><p>     "Who was against the alliance?" Ranboo's tone was grim.</p><p> </p><p>     "Tommy and Jack were pretty adamantly against the alliance. Ghostbo was, too," as soon as Technoblade mentioned Ghostbo, Ranboo's expression sank. </p><p> </p><p>     "Worst case scenario, if we have to go to war, we need to be prepared. We don't have much here," I sighed. </p><p> </p><p>     "You'll have me on your side," Techno offered. "I'm kinda homeless anyways, can I live here?"</p><p> </p><p>     "Yeah, of course," Ranboo’s eyes were locked onto the ground. </p><p> </p><p>     "Even if we have you on our side, Techno, we still need materials," I stated. </p><p> </p><p>     "I know a good place for netherite, we can go mine for some now if you're free," Techno said. </p><p> </p><p>     "I should stay here, get this place ready if needed. You guys go ahead," Ranboo turned around, his back towards Techno and I. Something was wrong, I could sense it. I gently grabbed his hand</p><p> </p><p>     "Stay safe, alright?" I told him. </p><p> </p><p>     "You too."</p><p> </p><p>     "C'mon, (Y/T/N), I have a diamond pick you can use if you need it," Techno pulled out a pickaxe from his inventory. </p><p> </p><p>     "That's okay, I have one. Let's go," I walked towards Technoblade and took one last look at the tall figure standing by the gate. His melancholic demeanor still lingered as he took a few steps forward, shutting and locking the gate behind him. </p><p> </p><p>     "The Nether portal is pretty close, I made one in the dark oak forest by your little village," Techno hesitated for a second. "You guys don't have a government by any chance, do you?"</p><p> </p><p>     "No, it's pretty hard to make a government with just two people. I don't think we really need one," I explained. </p><p> </p><p>     "Good, I don't do governments."</p><p> </p><p>     "Where exactly is this portal anyways? Why is it so close to the village?" </p><p> </p><p>     "It's down in a cave, I made it because of the lava that was there. The entrance should be right over..." Techno stopped in his tracks and pointed towards a gaping cave entrance, "here."</p><p> </p><p>     "Alright, let's go," I cautiously crept over to the cave. Technoblade led the way through the twisting tunnels, fighting off the monsters lurking in the depths. Bats screeched from time to time, sending chills down my spine. I clutched my iron sword tightly, ready to swing. As Techno and I turned a corner, we found the purple portal. </p><p> </p><p>     "Here we go," he immediately stepped into the portal. I ran after him, tripping over the edge and falling straight into the portal. </p><p> </p><p>     "Shit!" I shrieked, my head hitting the hard ground on the other end of the portal. I heard a deep chuckle from above me. </p><p> </p><p>     "I've never seen someone fall through a Nether portal before," Techno smirked. </p><p> </p><p>     "I guess Ranboo was right, I'm pretty accident-prone," I grumbled. </p><p> </p><p>     "Speaking of Ranboo, what's the deal with you two?" Techno asked as we headed towards the mine. Lanterns hung outside the netherbrick arch that marked the start of the mine. It was surprisingly elaborate for a netherite mine. </p><p> </p><p>     "What do you mean?" I inquired. </p><p> </p><p>     "Don't play dumb, I mean what's the relationship dynamic?"</p><p> </p><p>     "We're friends," I held onto the walls of the mine as we descended, careful not to slip and fall. </p><p> </p><p>     "Really? Just friends?" Techno prodded. </p><p> </p><p>     "Yeah, just friends."</p><p> </p><p>     "Alright, if you say so," he grabbed a bed from his inventory, placing it down. </p><p> </p><p>     "A bed? In the Nether?" I stepped back. </p><p> </p><p>     "What, never been netherite mining before?" Techno looked at me, shocked. </p><p> </p><p>     "No, not really. How does this work?" I peered over at the small white bed. Technoblade placed a block of netherrack in front of the bed. </p><p> </p><p>     "Get back and take cover," he ordered. I obeyed and distanced myself a few yards from the bed. Techno lightly touched it and it exploded in response. My ears started to ring and debris clanked against my armor. </p><p> </p><p>     I slowly walked over to the explosion to see Techno patching up areas that had lava flowing from them. The heat was blistering and a sweat broke out beneath my helmet. I was amazed that he could withstand the temperature. My eyes scanned the crater and landed on an unusual reddish-brown block on the other end of the hole. </p><p> </p><p>     "Techno, look!" I exclaimed. He turned his head toward the block and his eyes lit up. </p><p> </p><p>     "Ancient debris! We found some! Pog!" he cheered. </p><p> </p><p>     "How much do we need?" I took out my diamond pickaxe and got to work collecting the ancient debris. </p><p> </p><p>     "A lot. We gotta get moving."</p><p> </p><p>~ ~ ~</p><p> </p><p>     "That was a pretty lucky netherite run," I chirped.  Techno and I were on our way back to the village with satchels full of ancient debris. We had enough netherite for a set of armor and a couple swords. This wouldn't be our last time searching for netherite, but it was a good start. </p><p> </p><p>     "Meh, it was alright," he shrugged. </p><p> </p><p>     "Alright? Just alright? We got so much!" </p><p> </p><p>     "We don't have enough for all of us to have armor. I doubt that New Manbury has netherite, but if they do, we're screwed," Techno gulped. </p><p> </p><p>     "I mean, you're good at fighting, right? I'm not exactly the best, but I can learn. I bet Ranboo can, too," I suggested. </p><p> </p><p>     "Speaking of Ranboo, how exactly did you two meet? Most people on the server already knew each other from the old one but you're brand new. I just wanna know how you ended up living with Ranboo of all people."</p><p> </p><p>     "He found me lost in the woods at spawn," I replied. </p><p> </p><p>     "That's great and all, but why are you two living together? It was you two in the village, if you can even call it that."</p><p> </p><p>     "Ranboo wanted to live with Tommy and Ghostbo but was waiting for Ghostbo's call. Ghostbo decided to live with Tommy but started a bit of a conflict with Ranboo. He stormed off and asked me if I wanted to start a settlement with him. I realized that it was probably just to make Ghostbo jealous, but I had no one else to live with, so I went with him," I explained. </p><p> </p><p>     "Makes sense."</p><p> </p><p>     "I guess so. It's been working pretty well so far."</p><p> </p><p>     There was a brief moment of silence before Techno spoke, "was that cobblestone pillar always in the village?"</p><p> </p><p>     I must have been distracted at first, but I looked up at the village to see an extraordinarily tall cobblestone pillar. I even saw the shadow of a person on top of the pillar looking down. Ranboo. </p><p> </p><p>     "No, no it wasn't. We need to hurry," I began to sprint, nearly dropping my netherite. I didn't know what he was doing up there. I was afraid of what he'd do. </p><p> </p><p>     "Ranboo? Is that you up there?" Techno called out. </p><p> </p><p>     "Technoblade, (Y/T/N)..." Ranboo trailed. I could barely hear him from the top of the pillar. </p><p> </p><p>     "What's going on? Are you alright up there?" I shouted. </p><p> </p><p>     "I'm about to be."</p><p> </p><p>     "Ranboo, this isn't funny, what's going on?" Techno yelled. </p><p> </p><p>     "I can't do this. I just can't. Tubbo meant everything to me, he was the best platonic husband anyone could ask for. We had a child that was killed in the bombing. We comforted each other through it all. He grabbed my stuff when the Ender Dragon killed me. He sacrificed himself for the recreation of the server. He was the best damn man I've ever met, now he's gone," Ranboo sobbed. </p><p> </p><p>     "Ranboo, please, come down," I cried. </p><p> </p><p>     "Ghostbo's nothing like Tubbo. I thought he would be. I thought he'd remember me. It's ironic, isn't it? A sick, twisted irony that the husband of the kid with memory issues forgets everything. Tommy poisoned Ghostbo against me. Ghostbo doesn't want anything to do with me. I lost Michael. I lost Tubbo. I have nothing left. Nothing!"</p><p> </p><p>     "You have us, Ranboo," Technoblade took a step closer to the pillar. A memory flashed in my head. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>      "Brian, please, don't do this," I pleaded.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>      "Don't try and stop me," he stared into the camera before pulling out the razor.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>      "You're gonna make me watch?" I choked. I had already called the police to his house, now it was just a waiting game. It seemed like my stalling had run its course.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>      "You deserve this." </em>
</p><p> </p><p>     "Ranboo, come down! We care about you, please just come down!" tears rolled down my cheeks, even behind the screen. This scene was all too familiar. My breathing quickened. Now was not the time for a panic attack. </p><p> </p><p>     Ranboo stared at me from the very top of the pillar, his eyes locked on mine. A smile crept onto his dual-colored face. </p><p> </p><p>     He took a step backwards and began his plummet.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>suicide hotline: 1-800-273-8255</p><p>This chapter got pretty dark at the end, my apologies. Thank you all so much for reading, please take care of yourselves &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. [rewrite]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After an unexpected event occurs on the Dream SMP, the plot needs a massive reworking. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in (Y/N) and Brian’s relationship.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>!!![content warning: mention of suicide]!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     Adrenaline pumped through my veins. He was falling at an alarming rate. Once he hit the ground, this was it. He only had one canon death left and he was about to lose it. I dug through my inventory, panicking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Techno, do you have a water bucket?" I asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "No, I don't think so," he replied. I finally found an empty bucket in my inventory. I scooped up water from a nearby pond and placed it underneath where Ranboo was set to fall. Now I just had to hope he landed in it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     I only placed the water half a second before he was set to hit the ground. He fell into the water before screaming in pain. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "(Y/T/N), what the hell? He's part enderman, water hurts him!" Techno shouted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "It's better than him dying!" I retorted. Ranboo crawled out of the small water pool, the veins in his hands glowing bright green. He collapsed into the grass, panting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Why?" he croaked. I went over to him, sitting down on the grass. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Why what?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Why did you put the water down? Why did you try to save me?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Because I care about you! You were my first friend on the server, you helped me get out of the forest on the first day, we built our houses right next to each other and helped each other build. You've been right by my side since day one and I don't want to lose you, Ranboo. I don't want to lose you," I sobbed. Ranboo pulled himself into a sitting position across from me in the grass. Tears traveled down the scars on his cheeks, following the exact path the scars paved. A faint green glow surfaced beneath them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm sorry," he stared at the ground. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Don't be, I'm just glad that Techno and I were here in time."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Speaking of Techno, where did he go?" Ranboo asked. I turned around and scanned the nearby area. It was as if Technoblade had vanished without a trace. I was furious that he didn't stick around. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm not sure, but right now we've gotta get you dried off. Do you need help getting back home?" I stood up and offered Ranboo a hand. He took it, pulling himself to his feet before wincing in pain. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, that would be great,” he nodded, wrapped his arm around my shoulder. It was hard to support his weight, he was a foot taller than me and his suit was completely drenched. The faint sound of sizzling came from underneath it. I wasn’t sure what the effect of water was on endermen but by the sounds of it, Ranboo was suffering immensely. After I hauled him to his front patio, I fiddled with the doorknob to get it open. Ranboo managed to stumble inside on his own and he collapsed onto his kitchen chair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I’ll leave you alone to get changed, alright?” I stepped outside, lightly pushing the wooden door shut. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, yeah that’d be good. Thank you, (Y/T/N),” he looked up for a brief moment, forcing a painful smile. I nodded and fully pulled the door shut. I noticed a Discord notification. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Dream: You, me, and Ranboo need to talk. Once you're done with your stream, call me.</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "That's gonna be it for the stream today guys, thank you so much for being here," I signed off of Twitch and popped back into Discord. I pressed the green call button. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You didn't have to end immediately," Dream said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "It was time to end anyway. What's going on?" I questioned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Hey, I'm not late, am I?" Ranboo joined the call. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "No, we were just getting started. There's a pretty big problem," Dream stated. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Yeah, I was gonna tell her after she was done with the stream. How is the lore gonna work if I'm not dead?" Ranboo asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Wait, was there a script? The storyline was already planned?" my heart sank. "I wasn't given the script?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I mean, yeah, there was a script. And yeah, you weren't given it. That's how we roll with new members, we wanna see how they develop their character so that it's easy to write them in later. I just didn't anticipate your character becoming close with Ranboo and being there for his attempt. It was an oversight, but a pretty big one," Dream explained. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "So what do we do now? How are we gonna redo the script?" Ranboo inquired. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm really not sure, this was an integral part of the plot. It would have been the first time that a character committed suicide in the SMP lore. It's a historic thing. Now Technoblade has no reason to go all 'John Wick' on New Manbury. We might be able to write that out, but it's gonna be hard to find a cause of the war. We'll figure it out, I guess."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm sorry, I should have known that it was a plot thing. I just got carried away," I apologized.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Don't worry about it, it was an oversight that we made this part of the plot so easy to interfere with. We'll have to put the plot on pause for a bit while we do some rewrites, but I can send you the script once it's done. For right now, you won't play a super integral part, but now you'll know what not to mess with," Dream said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Alright, cool, I'll keep an eye out for it. I've gotta head to band practice pretty soon so I'm gonna hop out," I waited to get the okay from Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "You're in a band?" Ranboo asked, curiosity in his tone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Oh, yeah, I am."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "What instrument?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "I'm the drummer, but I also do back-up vocals," I responded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "Oh, sick!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     "If you want, I can talk more about it on the way to band practice,” I offered. “I ride the bus to the bassist’s house, that’s where we practice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Sure, let’s just hop into another VC,” Ranboo disconnected and I saw his name appear in a public voice channel in Discord. I logged off of my computer and rummaged through my sweatpants pockets to find earbuds. After plugging them in, I connected to Discord. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Hey, sorry again for messing with the plot,” I walked downstairs from my room and gave Spencer a quick wave. I doubt he paid attention to it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “It’s not that big of a deal, I probably should have told you about it. I guess I just felt weird talking to you,” Ranboo said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>      “You felt weird talking to me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “It’s not like that, I just haven’t talked to you a lot yet. I don’t really know you,” Ranboo clarified. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Well then maybe we should get to know each other more. Our characters are pretty close, I think it would be beneficial,” I suggested. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, totally. So what’s the deal with your band?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Well, I already told you that I play drums. Robbie’s the bassist, we practice at his house. Our guitarist’s name is Laila, she’s great, and my boyfriend’s the singer.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You have a boyfriend?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, we actually met through the band. Originally, Robbie wanted me as the singer. Robbie’s kinda the leader, I guess. He was also friends with Brian and Brian wanted to be in the band. He sang, but didn’t know any instrument other than ukulele. Robbie’s my best friend, but he’s known Brian longer, so I knew he’d give Brian the singer role. I learned drums to stay in the band,” I explained before sitting down on the bench at the bus stop. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Brian’s your boyfriend then?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, sorry, should have clarified,” I chuckled. “How about you? You have a significant other?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Nope,” Ranboo sighed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Ever had one?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Nope.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “That’s chill, we’re pretty young anyways,” I stepped onto the bus and reached into my wallet for my bus pass. After I pressed the card to the scanner, I walked to the back of the bus and sat down. It was quieter than usual, only an elderly couple was on the bus with me. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>      “Yeah, it’d be nice, but I’m pretty busy with streaming. Blowing up so suddenly was pretty weird,” Ranboo mentioned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “No, I totally agree. I haven’t blown up to your scale, but the speed of it all is unnerving,” I held up the microphone of my earbuds to my mouth as the bus rattled to a start. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, how are you gonna balance being in a band while also dealing with this newfound fame?” he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I’m not sure, but fame is kind of a strong word. I still have to do school and theatre stuff too. It’s gonna be pretty rough, but I’m sure it’ll work out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Jeez, is there anything you don’t do?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I’m not one for sports. I played volleyball when I was a kid, that’s about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You used to play volleyball? So did I!” Ranboo gasped.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, cool! I only played for about a year, but it was pretty fun,” I smiled. He and I chatted for a while about hobbies and school, basic things. Eventually, I noticed that my stop was coming up soon as the townhomes outside the window faded into single family homes made of brick and new, shiny glass. The rich part of town. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, well have fun at band practice, alright? We can catch up later.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Sounds good, bye,” I pressed the red button to hang up before shoving my phone into my pocket and walked to the front of the bus, clutching onto the seats around me to stabilize myself. The bus was still moving, but eventually stopped in front of a bench with a glass overhang above it. I gave a short goodbye to the bus driver before stepping off of the bus. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     The walk to Robbie’s house wasn’t too long from the bus stop, but it always gave me time to think. Practices had been tense recently, but I wasn’t entirely sure why. Brian had been acting off for a few weeks, maybe even a month. I couldn’t say that I wasn’t concerned. The smell of flowers hit my nose after I walked away from the lingering scent of gasoline, a signal that spring was finally approaching. This past winter had been lackluster with very little snow, but I was gleeful to see the plants coming back with the new season. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “(Y/N)! Wait up!” a girl’s voice called. I turned around to see a familiar face framed with thick black curls. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Laila!” I waved. Laila ran up to me and gave me a tight hug. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Come on, we’ve gotta hurry, I heard Brian wants to write a new song,” she grabbed my hand and dragged me along behind her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “A new song? We’ve already written a song for the showcase, we’re only allowed to have one original in the performance,” I furrowed my brows. We had already decided on two songs: Rearviewmirror by Pearl Jam and Drain You by Nirvana. Three songs were permitted during the upcoming band showcase at our school, one of which could be an original. I wasn’t told what our original song’s lyrics were going to be, all I knew was the drum part. After a bit of theorizing, I started to believe that Brian wrote it for me. I’d only find out the night before the showcase, he said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, Brian poured his heart out on that last one, I can’t believe he wants to scrap it,” Laila shook her head. We had finally gotten to Robbie’s driveway and made our way over to the open garage. Brian and Robbie stared at Laila and I. I could sense a tension, a hostility, so thick that not even a knife could cut through. Something was amiss. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Hey guys,” I simpered. “Babe, you’re writing a new song for the showcase? I thought we were doing the one you already wrote. I have the drum part down and everything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “It’s the same drum part,” Robbie spat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “What’s going on? Something’s wrong here,” Laila stepped forward, analyzing each of the band mates. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, Brian was just telling me what the song is about, that’s all,” Robbie shrugged, still glaring at me. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “What’s it about?” I asked tentatively. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “His cheating girlfriend, that’s what.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all so much for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. [done]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>(Y/N) cuts ties.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     “Excuse me?” my eyes went wide, my heart rate quickened. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “All of the shit on social media with you and that Ranboo guy! You’re flirting with him, it’s disgusting. You’re disgusting!” Brian took a step forward, his face inches from mine. My ears rang after his scream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “It’s roleplay, Brian. It’s not real, it’s just for the plot. Besides, I wasn’t flirting. Even in the story, Ranboo and I are just friends,” I assured him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Oh yeah? Then why is there a shit ton of fan art and stupid shipping stuff about you two?” Brian bellowed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “That’s just the fandom, I don’t know. It’s not my doing,” my lip quivered as I struggled to hold back my tears. I couldn’t show weakness, especially not now. I never showed weakness. Never. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Alright babe, I trust you,” he nodded before pulling me in for a hug. I froze, unable to move or reciprocate the gesture. The emotional whiplash left me feeling confused, drained. I took a step back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I’m… I’m going home,” my voice wavered and I glanced around the room. My hands started to shake, a tightness developed in my chest. Laila looked shocked when I spoke but I couldn’t read the faces of Robbie and Brian. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Baby, what’s wrong?” Brian took my hands in his, pulling me closer to him. I jerked backwards. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Y-you… you d-don’t,” I stammered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I don’t ‘what’?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You don’t get to scream at me about how I’m a cheater when I haven’t done anything! You don’t get to turn my best friend against me because you have some stupid suspicion! I don’t understand, I just don’t understand why you won’t support me in anything!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “(Y/N),” Laila put a hand on my shoulder. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “This has nothing to do with a lack of support, what are you talking about?” Brian scoffed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Stop being so irrational. This whole streaming thing is gonna be short-lived for you because of how fast your channel grew. That’s how it works. I’m only being realistic that this isn’t something worth pursuing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “What does my channel have to do with the situation we’re in right now? You have a lot of nerve to tell me that my channel isn’t worth it! I have five times as many followers as you now, I should be the one telling you that your streaming isn’t worth it but guess what? I’m not! Because I, unlike you, am a good partner,” I spat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I’m not a good boyfriend?” Brian’s brows furrowed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Right now, no.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Guys, knock it off,” Robbie stepped in between Brian and I, his glance shifting between us. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I’m done,” I threw my hands in the air, turned around, and walked out of the garage. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “(Y/N), if you leave right now,” Robbie hesitated, “then you’re out of the band.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Then get a new damn drummer,” I looked over my shoulder and narrowed my eyes and Robbie. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah? Then get a new boyfriend,” Brian stepped forward, his brown eyes seething with rage. My heart dropped, the shakiness returned. Everything felt like it was spinning. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Fine?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “That’s what I said,” I turned my head and looked out at the street, “fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You’re really just gonna take that? You’re fucking pathetic!” Brian cackled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Really? You’re calling her pathetic when you’re the one that can’t handle her having male friends online?” Laila put a hand on her hip. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Brian, you’re going too far,” Robbie shook his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I don’t give a damn, let her leave. She was a shit drummer anyways,” Brian huffed. I bit the inside of my cheek and reached for my phone in my pocket. Phone in hand, I walked out of the driveway and down the sidewalk. I wasn’t at Robbie’s house for long. I doubted I’d ever return. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     The ride home was quiet, silent even. It was unusual for the city bus to be so empty, so cold, so lifeless. It was ironic, it was exactly how I felt at that moment. I put my earbuds in and popped into Spotify to turn on my playlist. I noticed a notification on Discord pop up on the top of my phone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: I thought you were in band practice?</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <span>I opened up the app, confused. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: how do you know i’m not?</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: Did you forget that I followed you on Spotify? Unless your band is doing something by Amy Winehouse, I’m pretty sure you aren’t at practice</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     What was I supposed to tell him?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: some stuff happened, kinda got kicked out of the band lmao</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     That didn’t exactly make me look the best, now did it?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: Well dang, how’d that happen?</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: got accused of some stuff that i didn’t do, i argued back, i started having a panic attack and wanted to go home, then robbie told me that if i left i’d be out of the band. i left, then brian broke up with me lol</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <span>Shoot, am I over-sharing?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: “lol”? That’s not funny, that’s awful. I’m sorry (Y/T/N)</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: no worries, i kinda wanted to break up w him anyways. i can’t stand the constant switching between him being nice and him being a jerk, y’know?</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <span>I am most definitely over-sharing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: Yeah, I guess it’s for the best. Sorry you had to go through that though :/</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: it’s all good :) btw, you don’t have to call me (Y/T/N), just call me (Y/N)</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: (Y/N)? That’s a nice name</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: that’s a cue for you to tell me yours, if you’re okay with that</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: Mark</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <span>Mark, huh? Pretty standard name. It’s nice that he’s opening up to me, though. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: yay!!! look at that, we’re bonding!!!</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: I only just told you my name???</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: i mean that’s a start!</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: So we’re friends now?</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: bestiessss</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <span>Please don’t think that’s weird, please. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: Literally never call me that again</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: fine, fine, i won’t :/</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: For real though, I’m sorry about the break-up, that sucks. Is there any way I can help?</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     I thought for a second. What would be a good distraction?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: wanna hop on the server tomorrow?</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: Sure :)</b>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hi! Quick thing I wanted to mention about this chapter. </p><p>I’m using the name “Mark” for Ranboo. It was the name that Tubbo “leaked,” but it was never confirmed if it was actually Ranboo’s name. I’m not trying to say that it is, he is entitled to his privacy. I’m only using it for the story. </p><p>Thank you all so much for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. [aligned]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After the events of the day prior, (Y/T/N) and Technoblade visit Ranboo to ensure he’s alright.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     I stepped up onto Ranboo’s porch, the floorboards creaking under my weight. I wanted to check on him after the events of yesterday to make sure that he was alright. I didn’t want him doing anything like that again. I couldn’t lose him, but I couldn’t tell why. I guess he was my closest friend on the server. Losing him would destroy me. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “(Y/T/N),” someone behind me grabbed my shoulder, slightly pulling me back. I drew my sword and spun around. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Technoblade?” I sheathed my sword, confused. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “We need to talk,” the pig sighed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, we do. Where were you yesterday? Where did you go?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I…” Techno looked towards the ground, “I got scared. Overwhelmed. I shouldn’t have disappeared like that, but I didn’t know what to do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “That’s not an excuse,” I scoffed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I know, I’m here to apologize to him. And just to make sure he’s doing alright.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Technoblade apologizing? That’s new,” I raised an eyebrow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “First time for everything,” he huffed and moved to knock on the door. His netherite gauntlets left small indents on the dark oak door. Slowly, the door creaked open. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Ranboo was incredibly disheveled. His dual-colored hair was matted and the bags under his eyes were harsh. He didn’t even have his suit jacket or his tie on, just the white collared shirt he wore underneath. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “What is this, an intervention?” Ranboo grumbled and looked down at Techno and I. I was already short compared to Technoblade, he was roughly half a foot taller than me, but Ranboo completely dwarfed me. I wasn’t short by any means, but Ranboo was a giant. It must have been the enderman in him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “No, we’re just checking in on you,” I gave a slight smile and stepped up next to Techno. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “So an intervention?” Ranboo yawned. I doubt he got much sleep last night. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Just let us in,” Techno rolled his eyes and took off his helmet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, sure, come on in,” Ranboo opened the door further so that Techno and I could step in. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Quills and papers were scattered on the floor, ink spilled everywhere. Leather-bound books were strewn around the kitchen, all nearly full of black writing. None of the writing look coherent, mainly scribbles, but some pages had legible writing. Those ones had single words written on them, like “him” or “remember.” I didn’t stare too long. Ranboo must have felt uncomfortable with having his place in such a state. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “What happened here?” Technoblade asked as he inspected the room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Writing,” Ranboo responded sheepishly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You’re gonna stain the hardwood with this ink, we’ve gotta get this cleaned up,” Techno knelt down and touched some of the spilled ink on the ground. He lifted his hand to reveal only a small smudge of black on his gauntlet. “It’s probably too late to save your floor.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I can get you a carpet or something if you need one. We have the sheep farm now, you know,” I suggested. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Maybe later,” Ranboo brushed my idea off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Are you feeling any better today?” I inquired. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Sort of. I’m not in any kind of danger if that’s what you’re asking.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “That’s good,” I beamed. “In that case, I have a suggestion. We have three people living in the village now, I think we should give it a name.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “A name? You sure we aren’t going into government territory?” Techno stood up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “No, no, I understand your positions on government. You guys were part of an anarchy organization before the restart, right?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yes, it was called the ‘Syndicate.’” Techno nodded, a glimmer in his eye. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Do we wanna revive that name?” I asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Well, Phil and Niki aren’t here. They’re part of New Manbury, right? It isn’t really the Syndicate without them, especially not Phil. I’d say we give this place another name,” he suggested. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Ranboo, Techno, do either of you have an idea?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Uhh, there are mushrooms around the perimeter, maybe something like Shroomton?” Ranboo put forward. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Shroomton? What is this, a hippie town?” Technoblade scoffed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I mean, I’d think that hippies would be into anarchy,” Ranboo mumbled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, they’re all about peace, love, and anarchy,” I joked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Still, I don’t wanna get demonetized or something stupid. (Y/T/N), you think of anything?” Techno looked over to me.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     There were lots of alliums around the village and I had originally wanted to incorporate that into the name, but couldn’t figure out a way to do so. My next thought was to use the dark oak forest surrounding us as a part of the name, maybe giving it an ending of “wood.” Alliumwood? No, I’d been over this, “allium” isn’t going to fit into the name. It’s too many syllables. I thought of every detail about our village, of the flowers and trees and ponds, to get an idea for our name. I remembered a simple detail, our positioning from spawn. An idea hit me. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Northwood maybe? It’s simple, but it’s alright, I guess,” I shrugged. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, cause we’re north of spawn and surrounded by wood, that makes sense,” Ranboo nodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “It is pretty simple,” Techno agreed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Something wrong with simplicity?” I raised an eyebrow. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “No, not at all, it’s a compliment. It’s not some stupid name like ‘New Manbury’ or whatever. It works.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “So Northwood?” Ranboo leaned in. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Northwood sounds good to me,” Technoblade smirked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Northwood it is, boys,” I beamed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Anyways, I’m gonna go get more netherite, I think. I’ve heard that Tommy and his boys are preparing for something, I’m not sure what,” Techno pulled me aside briefly, out of earshot from Ranboo. “I’d offer to take you with me, but I don’t trust the kid right now. You stay here, alright?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “That was my plan anyways.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Good, good,” he looked back at Ranboo, then at me, “you two be careful. If any of those Europeans show up, beat the crap out of em, alright?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Will do,” I gave Technoblade a firm pat on the shoulder. He was a mysterious character, he didn’t seem to let anyone in, but we had grown rather close after the past few days. We were almost like siblings. He did, after all, remind me of my brother, Spencer.  I watched as the pig walked out of the door, gently closing it behind him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Before you say anything, I’m not gonna do anything like yesterday, okay?” Ranboo sighed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I didn’t think you would. I’m just glad you’re here,” I sat down on the floor on top of the scattered papers. Ranboo stared at me for a few seconds before joining, sitting right beside me. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I’ve been really sad about Tubbo, (Y/T/N), really sad. And about Michael. He wasn’t able to pass through into the restart, he’s gone. He’ll never understand why the world went dark one day and why his parents never returned. He'll never know that one of his dads doesn’t even remember him. He’s gone without a trace and Tubbo and I knew that it would happen that way. I wanted to get through it with Tubbo, to heal together. I didn’t expect to lose him, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>      “I’m sorry, Ranboo,” I looked up at the boy sitting next to me. His eyes were still locked on the floor, at the ruined notebooks and ink stains. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “It’s okay, I have you now,” the corners of Ranboo’s mouth slightly curled upwards before sinking down back into his neutral, blank expression. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Me?” I was astonished, but honored that he thought so highly of me. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, I mean you’ll never replace Tubbo and Michael, but you’ve helped a lot with the grieving.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, thank you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Mhm.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I got something for you, by the way,” I reached into my bag and rummaged through before pulling out a flower pot with a little magenta flower coming out of it. An allium. “I know these are your favorite.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “They’re your favorite, too, aren’t they?” Ranboo tentatively took the flower pot into his hands, his eyes analyzed the flower. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, how did you know?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I thought you told me that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I might have, I don’t really remember.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “In any case, thank you, (Y/T/N),” Ranboo looked at me, his glance darted between my eyes, “this was really thoughtful.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Of course, it wasn’t hard to get or anything. We live by a lot of alliums,” I chuckled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Right, that’s why I like it here. One of the reasons I like it here, anyways,” Ranboo trailed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, the ponds are nice, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I don’t like ponds.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, right, the whole enderman thing,” I paused for a second, the silence seeped into the room. “Then what do you like about this place?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “The trees, the flowers,” Ranboo glanced over to me, “the people.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     I felt a bit of panic creep up inside of me. If we kept going through with this bit, we could majorly mess up the script. No one saw this coming, except for maybe the fans. Then again, the new script wasn’t out yet. Then again, I could make Brian jealous. I doubted he was watching, but if he was…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I like the people, too,” I reached for Ranboo’s hand, twining my fingers with his. He looked shocked, his eyes widened. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Glad we’re on the same page,” Ranboo relaxed, still looking at our hands. I couldn’t quite read his expression. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Me too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Just so you know, I meant what I said. That you’ll never replace Tubbo and Michael,” his voice cracked as he spoke. I felt a pit of sadness planted in my chest</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I understand,” I bit the inside of my cheek and tried to hide my distress. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “But you know what?” Ranboo squeezed my hand and looked at me, a sizzling tear trailed down his face. “I don’t need a replacement. I never did. What I need is a new start and I think that I can have that here with you and Techno. I think that this is good for me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I think so, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “We tend to agree a lot, huh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I guess we do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Darn it, (Y/T/N), there you go again with the agreeing stuff!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I’m sorry!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Ranboo grinned, “I’m sorry, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     I was about to retort to Ranboo's sarcasm when I noticed a Discord notification pop up. It was Dream. I prayed to whatever higher power was up in the sky that I wasn’t in trouble for this improvised skit. I opened up the notification on my phone, gently tapping on the screen. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>Dream: I think you’ve given me and Wilbur a new idea for the script. Call me when you’re done with stream. Nice job today btw</b>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all so much for reading! Sorry that this chapter took a while, I’ve been catching up on some schoolwork. I’ll try and get back to my normal schedule &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. [scheme]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Brian takes to Instagram after his break-up with (Y/N), causing her quite a lot of panic</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     Even though I was a faceless streamer, I couldn’t help but feel anxious whenever I walked into school. Call me paranoid, but I kept feeling like someone would figure it out. That it was me behind the screen. Only my bandmates and Ari knew that I was streaming. Well, ex-bandmates. Robbie and Ari were my best friends so I couldn’t keep it from them. Brian was my boyfriend so I told him as well, but he never took it seriously. Laila also knew, it wasn’t fair to keep the secret from her if the rest of the band knew.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Walking through the hallways, I felt eyes glued onto me. I always felt like people were watching but today was different. Today felt real. I kept my head down and navigated to my homeroom, avoiding everyone around me. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “(Y/N), are you okay?” someone behind me asked. I spun around to see Laila with Ari standing behind her. They looked nervous.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, sorry I’m keeping my head down. Feels like everyone’s watching me or something,” I gave a short chuckle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were after what happened last night,” Ari shrugged.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Why? What happened last night?” my brows furrowed and I looked between my two friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You don’t know?” Laila stepped forward.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Know what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Gosh, (Y/N), I don’t know how to really say this,” she sighed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Brian leaked your identity on his Instagram last night. Half of the school knows you stream, probably very few are fans. They were making fun of you in the comments,” Ari explained.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “What? Why would he do that?” I whispered. I felt the stares become scalding and my blood run cold, a juxtaposition I didn’t expect at eight in the morning.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “He also accused you of cheating on him with Ranboo. Now everyone thinks that you’re a cheating, lying, cringey Minecraft streamer,” Laila pursed her lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Oh,” my heart dropped. A sob crept up into my throat but I suppressed it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You aren’t actually dating Ranboo, right?” Ari interrogated. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “What? No, I barely know the guy. I mean, we’re friends, but the relationship is platonic,” I shook my head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Yeah, last night’s stream wasn’t too convincing of anything, but I guess Brian was watching,” Ari frowned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I guess so, but why would he go around telling everyone that I cheated? And he exposed my channel to everyone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “It’s worse than you think, (Y/N),” a panicked look formed in Ari’s green eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “What do you mean?” I tugged on my shirt collar as the anxiety started to worsen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Brian’s Instagram is private so your fans wouldn’t be able to see your face, but other people have kinda put it on Twitter. Your entire identity is basically leaked: your first and last name, your face, your school, your location, even your address. Everything. You basically got doxxed by your ex-boyfriend.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Ari,” I breathed, “where is he?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “(Y/N), calm down, it’s gonna be okay,” Laila gave a weak smile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “No, Ari, I want you to take me to him. Laila can stay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Why can’t I go with you two?” Laila cocked her head to the side. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I don’t want you getting in the way.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “He’s by his locker, let’s go,” Ari gritted their teeth. The two of us dodged between students and teachers until Brian was in sight. I took a deep breath, I felt every pair of eyes nearby locked onto me. I never liked to get angry, I hated the rare occasions that it happened. But doxxing? That’s unforgivable. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Brian, what the hell is wrong with you?” I hissed after I slinked up to his locker. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Me? What the hell is wrong with you?” his voice bellowed in the hallways. I heard other kids pull out their phones and open their cameras. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You falsely accused me of cheating for the second time and doxxed me to the entire internet, that’s what’s wrong with you. What is your problem? You broke up with me!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You were flirting with the guy during your stream!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Brian, we weren’t even dating when I did that. Even if I was, guess what? It’s roleplay, I get paid for this. It doesn’t mean anything. Ranboo and I are friends, maybe even just friendly acquaintances. I don’t even know his favorite color or his favorite band, alright? I barely know him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You shouldn’t be flirting so soon after we broke up. You understand that after I accused you the first time and you go and flirt with the guy I accused you of cheating on me with, I’m going to think you’re a cheater, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “I told you once, I’ll tell you again. I am not romantically involved with Ranboo. My character on the Dream SMP is romantically involved with Ranboo’s character on the Dream SMP. How can I make this simpler for you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “But you understand that it makes me uncomfortable, right?” Brian pouted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, you’re uncomfortable?” I scoffed. “You released my personal information to the entire internet when I took so many precautions to keep it a secret. You’re not one to talk about being uncomfortable.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “It was only because I thought that you cheated, come on,” Brian opened his arms, “you can forgive me, can’t you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Absolutely not. You’re deplorable,” I spat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “That’s what I always liked about you. How smart you are, how you always have the right comebacks. Please, baby, I didn’t mean anything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “You breached my privacy to the entire internet! My safety is in danger, strangers can come to my house now! I will never forgive you, Brian. Ever.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Babe, come on, I was just upset.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, my bad, I completely understand. I, too, dox my ex-girlfriend out of jealousy when I’m upset,” I scowled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “(Y/N), let’s leave,” Ari suggested. I took one last look at Brian, his brown eyes rimmed with tears. A tinge of guilt pricked my chest but I immediately pushed it down. I didn’t need to feel sympathy after the months of gaslighting and walking on eggshells that I endured. I was free. I may be alienated from my classmates, but I’m free. Entirely free. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out while I walked away from the site of the argument, phones still pointed towards me. It didn’t matter anymore, nothing did. A Discord notification showed up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: Holy cow, are you alright? I just looked at Twitter on my way to school and saw what happened last night, that shit is terrifying</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     I gave a small, indistinguishable smile after reading the message. Ranboo, or Mark as I’d taken to calling him behind the scenes, always had something kind or funny to say. I never felt uneasy around him like I did with Brian. Then again, I had never met Mark in person. He could be a total creep for all I know. But for right now, he was quickly becoming one of my best friends, up with Ari and Laila. Maybe he could take Robbie’s place. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: eh, not really. got in a pretty big fight w brian this morning. i hate this sm</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: I can only imagine. I made a tweet denying the dating rumors so hopefully those die down. </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: thanks, i appreciate that. i think that people would take your word over mine on this stuff, but idk. all of this is hella overwhelming </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: If you want, we can change the subject. Or not, whatever you’re cool with</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     I entered my homeroom, eyes still glued to me. I clutched my phone tightly as I slipped into my seat. I sat smack in the center of the room, not too close up front to be a teacher’s pet but not too close to the back to lose focus. It also made texting pretty easy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: sure, we can talk about the script maybe. i really like what wilbur came up with, it’s not the plotline you’d expect</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: I don’t know how I feel about the ending of this arc but I’m pretty excited for what they have in store for my character</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: i would be too, this arc is gonna be so sick </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: Wait, you’re in class right now, right?</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: mhm</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: We’ll talk later then</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: wait no we can still talk, it’s just homeroom</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     No response. I decided to pull up Twitter; I knew Mark had mentioned that a lot of drama had been stirred up, but I didn’t know the extent of it. Not surprisingly, I was tagged in several tweets and photos. I scrolled through the mentions aimlessly, barely reading the mocking messages about how I looked, about how I “cheated.” That’s when I stumbled across an unusual Tweet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>taurustempo: if y’all actually read (Y/T/N)’s ex-boyfriend’s original post and the comment section then you’d know that the two have been broken up for a hot minute. ranboo’s also denied any dating rumors even though they’ve been “exposed.” do your research before accusing and doxxing innocent ppl</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     I was shocked. I didn’t expect people to be sticking up for me in this situation. I got another mention. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>___retrogue: Did anyone see the video posted by some kids from (Y/TN)’s school? Her ex is mad manipulative, even if she was cheating I wouldn’t blame her</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     I saw a response to that Tweet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>mrlizardman294: tbh i’d love to see (Y/T/N) and Ranboo together, they have such a good dynamic and are really entertaining together</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     Likes rolled in rapidly, Tweets of agreement filled the comment section. I was appalled. Not only was I not getting cancelled, I was getting defended. The most interesting part was that people </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted </span>
  </em>
  <span>Mark and I together. It sparked interest in us. Views might go up when we collab from people trying to crack the code, to see if we’re an item or not. I came up with a scheme, something diabolical. I opened up Discord, my conversation with Mark still open. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: just read through twitter, i have a proposition. the fans want us to be together, let’s pretend like we are. it’s getting a lot of attention and all we would have to do is occasionally flirt. it’s just an idea, but what do you think?</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>     He started typing. What ever happened to me paying attention in class?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: That’s crazy</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: crazy enough to get the views ;)</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: You know what, you’ve got a deal. If it makes the fans happy and keeps them on their toes, I’m all for it</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Me: oh gee, i have a pretend boyfriend now, isn’t this great</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Ranboo: It’s better than no boyfriend ;)</b>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello all! Sorry I’ve been slowing down the chapter output, I’m currently prepping for my SATs and don’t have a ton of time to write each chapter. I’ve pushed aside my upload schedule because it was stressing me out but I’ll try and get back to it after I take my SAT. Thank you all for your patience, I appreciate it so much :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. [bonding]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>(Y/T/N) goes on a podcast with her fellow Dream SMP teenagers.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     “Hey, I’m not late, am I?” I clicked into the private voice chat. </p><p> </p><p>     “If you’re late, then Tommy and Ranboo are screwed,” Purpled responded. </p><p> </p><p>     “You aren’t late at all, you’re here a minute ahead of time,” Tubbo reassured me. </p><p> </p><p>     “Well, I mean, if you’re not five minutes early then you’re already late. That’s what my dad says,” I simpered. </p><p> </p><p>     “You’re doing a podcast with a bunch of teenagers, I doubt that your saying applies here,” Purpled scoffed. </p><p> </p><p>     Tubbo decided a couple of days ago that he wanted to do a podcast for whatever reason and wanted everyone under 18 on the SMP to join. Ranboo and Tommy agreed to be co-hosts while Purpled and I were going to play it by ear. I was leaning towards agreeing to be a co-host and I wasn’t exactly sure where Purpled stood. Ironically, the two of us were in the Discord call early. </p><p> </p><p>     “Are you sure doing a live podcast is a good idea?” Purpled questioned. “We have Tommy on here, what if he says something that gets him cancelled and we can’t edit it out?”</p><p> </p><p>     “Eh, it’s good content,” I shrugged. </p><p> </p><p>     “He’s made it this far without being cancelled, he’ll be fine,” Tubbo brushed it off. </p><p> </p><p>     “Hi, I’m here now,” Ranboo waved. We all had our cameras on although Ranboo was wearing his mask and sunglasses.</p><p> </p><p>     “Right on time!” Tubbo grinned. </p><p> </p><p>     “Where’s Tommy?” I crossed my arms. We were supposed to get started with the podcast two minutes ago. Running late was a major pet peeve for me. </p><p> </p><p>     “I’m not sure, but I’m sorry I’m late,” Ranboo apologized. </p><p> </p><p>     “It’s all good, let’s get started with the podcast, alright?” Tubbo smacked his desk, sending a loud thud into the microphone. </p><p> </p><p>     “Can you not abuse your desk?” Purpled winced at the noise. </p><p> </p><p>     “Sorry, sorry,” Tubbo laughed. </p><p> </p><p>     “What topic do we wanna start off with?” I asked. </p><p> </p><p>     “How about women?” Tommy bellowed as he entered the video call. </p><p> </p><p>     “So you’re just gonna show up late and destroy our eardrums?” Purpled raised an eyebrow. </p><p> </p><p>     “Tommy, what the hell happened? I told you the time, why are you late? This is important to me,” Tubbo huffed. </p><p> </p><p>     “My bad, I was editing. I’m married to the grind,</p><p>you know. It don’t stop.”</p><p> </p><p>     “Speaking of the grind, we can make that our first topic. Purpled, what have you been up to recently in terms of ‘the grind’?” Tubbo interrogated. </p><p> </p><p>     “Calculus, SAT preparation, that kind of stuff,” Purpled sighed. “It’s taken up my entire life, I can barely stream anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>     “I totally get that, school’s been kicking my ass recently,” I agreed. </p><p> </p><p>     “SATs? What are those?” Tubbo cocked his head to the side. </p><p> </p><p>     “They’re stupid tests that basically tell colleges how smart you are,” Purpled responded. </p><p> </p><p>     “You two are going to college?” Tommy gave a surprised look. </p><p> </p><p>     “I mean, yeah, I’m not wasting the college credits I’ve earned in high school. Besides, getting a degree can’t hurt,” I answered. </p><p> </p><p>     “What about you, Ranboo? Are you thinking about college?” Tubbo turned his attention to the masked boy that had stayed rather silent during the podcast so far. </p><p> </p><p>     “Huh? Not really, Twitch and Youtube have been doing well enough that I don’t think I really need college. I’d rather pursue that full-time.”</p><p> </p><p>     “That means you can move to the UK with Tommy and I!” Tubbo cheered. </p><p> </p><p>     “I am not living with that tall freak,” Tommy spat. </p><p> </p><p>     “You use the British version of Axe Body Spray, believe me, the feeling is mutual,” Ranboo joked. </p><p> </p><p>     “Ew, oh my gosh,” I cackled. </p><p> </p><p>     “Tommy, you make, like, thousands of dollars and you can’t buy a decent cologne? Really?” Purpled’s eyes widened in shock. </p><p> </p><p>     “I don’t need this negativity today,” Tommy pointed at the camera accusingly. “Lynx is part of my brand, I can’t just stop using it.”</p><p> </p><p>     “This is why you don’t have a girlfriend,” Purpled rolled his eyes. Tommy’s jaw dropped. </p><p> </p><p>     “Listen here you purple fu-“ he started, but was cut off by Tubbo. </p><p> </p><p>     “Hey, no cursing on my podcast!” he whined. </p><p> </p><p>     “Sorry,” Tommy mumbled. </p><p> </p><p>     “Colognes aside, what about you, Ranboo? What have you been doing?” Tubbo changed the subject. </p><p> </p><p>     “A lot of preparations for this next story arc. They’ve had to switch things around a lot in the script so everything with my character is gonna happen pretty quickly. I’m excited,” Ranboo responded. </p><p> </p><p>     “Are we allowed to talk about the script?” I asked. “I thought it was secret information.”</p><p> </p><p>     “We aren’t saying exactly what’s happening and what the plan is, I think we’re fine,” Purpled shook his head. </p><p> </p><p>     “Alright, just wanted to make sure.”</p><p> </p><p>     “It’s interesting that we’re just now getting the first straight canon couple on the SMP, everyone’s been in gay relationships so far,” Tubbo mentioned. </p><p> </p><p>     “Yeah, and I’ve been in two different canon relationships. Can’t believe that I’m a seventeen-year-old widower,” Ranboo chuckled. </p><p> </p><p>     “You’ve got me now, it’s all good,” I grinned. </p><p> </p><p>     “So what exactly is going on between you two?” Tommy leaned in closer to the camera. </p><p> </p><p>     “Well we started Northwood together, then some stuff with the script went wrong-“ Ranboo started speaking but was soon cut off. </p><p> </p><p>     “No, you idiot, I mean in real life. I know you denied the relationship after all the Twitter drama and I’m terribly sorry that this happened to the both of you, especially (Y/T/N), but are you two sure that nothing’s happening?” Tommy asked. </p><p> </p><p>     “We are… uh…” Ranboo trailed. </p><p> </p><p>     “We’re talking,” I interjected. I didn’t want to reveal our fake relationship until the Twitter drama cooled off, but I figured that hinting at it wouldn’t hurt. </p><p> </p><p>     “Talking?” Tommy raised an eyebrow. </p><p> </p><p>     “Yeah, talking,” Ranboo nodded. He pulled out his phone and it looked like he was typing something. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. It was a Discord notification. </p><p> </p><p>Ranboo: Pretend like I just said something and smile at the phone. </p><p> </p><p>    A grin slowly formed on my face as I looked at the phone. I could see Ranboo looking at his phone on screen out of my periphery. </p><p> </p><p>     “Yeah, I think we can all see that you’re talking,” Tubbo jokingly rolled his eyes. “I’m proud of you, big man.”</p><p> </p><p>     “There’s nothing really going on, it’s fine,” Ranboo shook his head. </p><p> </p><p>     “Can we move on now?” Purpled groaned. “They aren’t gonna tell us anything.”</p><p> </p><p>     “Sure, whatever,” Tubbo nodded. </p><p> </p><p>     “So, uh…” Ranboo rubbed the back of his neck. A silence filled the call. </p><p> </p><p>     “Airplane food, am I right?” I looked into my webcam. </p><p> </p><p>     “(Y/T/N), respectfully, never speak again,” Tommy shook his head, laughing. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR SO LONG!!! I’ve been very burnt out with this story unfortunately but I’m trying to get back into it. SATs are done but because of prepping for them, I’m behind in school and need to catch up. This is just a filler chapter I wrote during this time. Again, I apologize, and thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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